Giant kites celebrate the dead in Guatemala

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

Giant kites festival by Rolando Estrada – The Barriletes Gigantes festival is celebrated every year on the first and second of November in Guatemala.

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

The Barriletes Gigantes festival is one of the region's main cultural events. On All Saints' Day, the people of Sacatepequez fly the giant kites, painted by hand, over the graves of their family members while they pray and deposit flowers.

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

One of the greatest challenges is keeping the kites in the air, due to their weight and size. The largest kites have a diameter of 15 meters. Young men and children join together in teams to launch the kites and compete amicably with each other as everyone wants to keep their kite flying for as long as possible.

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

The tradition goes back to the pre-Colombian era, before the appearance of European influences on the American continent. It has evolved through time to incorporate Christian religious traditions, and was declared part of Guatemala's cultural heritage in 1999.

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

The giant kites often contain messages aimed at inspiring the living to be friendly to each other and work towards peace. The motifs drawn on the giant kites are not a way of communicating with departed souls, but a way for the people of Sacatepequez to express themselves artistically.

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Photos:Giant Kites to honor the dead in Guatemala

The main objective of the cultural and religious tradition is to honor the dearly departed in a spectacle of color and allow the younger generations to express their art by painting the giant kites.

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Story highlights

Guatemala residents honor their dead by flying giant kites

The largest can be more than 40 feet in diameter

(CNN)Huge, colorful kites are soaring over the skies of Guatemala as hundreds of people gather in cemeteries to honor their dead.

This tradition, which takes place on the first and second of November of each year, is part of the All Saints' Day celebrations in the neighboring towns of Santiago Sacatepequez and Sumpango.

Many countries worldwide mark the Christian festival with family gatherings and silent prayers. But Guatemala's residents transform their country into a land of flying colors with their Barriletes Gigantes festival, which translates to "giant kites" in English.

Enormous kites, some more than 40 feet in diameter, are painted by hand throughout the year and flown over the graves of family members while flowers are strewn on the ground below. Festivalgoers share their favorites on social media.

Tourists from around the world come to the festival, which is one of Guatemala's main cultural events and dates back to the pre-Colombian era before the arrival of European influences on the American continent.

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Back then, the colorful kites represented the union of the underworld and the land of the living.

"The weavings and kites are important cultural symbols and tied to specific ethno-linguistic Mayan identity in Guatemala, with designs depicting specific family stories, including, at times, government oppression and economic conditions ," wrote Michael K. Steinberg, an associate professor at the University of Alabama, in a report about Guatemala's traditions.

A photo posted by Daisy (@desireehermang) on Nov 1, 2016 at 6:38pm PDT

Several people are needed to launch the heavy kites, which are usually made from bamboo, cloth and paper. Young men and children join together in teams to launch them, then compete amicably with each other to see whose kite can remain in the as long as possible.

Locals cheer for their favorite teams and fill the air with sounds of joy as they remember departed relatives and friends.